Tag Archives: Game

* Jose Reyes was scratched from today’s game for additional bloodwork. Reyes has subsequently cleared to play and will take batting practice later today. The Mets said scratch had nothing to do with his hamstring injury.

The Mets are home to St. Louis tomorrow and Reyes is expected in the line-up.

* Closer Francisco Rodriguez is still bothered by a case of pink eye and has not been cleared. Considering relievers need far less time to get ready for the season there is no worry Rodriguez will be set back to where there is a concern.

* The Mets have set their rotation through Tuesday. Jon Niese will start tomorrow against the Cardinals, followed by Mike Pelfrey, Saturday against Washington at Viera; Oliver Perez, Sunday against Washington at Port St. Lucie; John Maine, Monday against Florida at Jupiter; and Johan Santana, Tuesday against Houston at Port St. Lucie.

Fred Wilpon held court today, and his words gave the impression of separating himself from his baseball people – Omar Minaya and Jerry Manuel.

It’s his money, but they make the decisions, Wilpon said.

“I understand from the fan’s point of view, because I am one myself, and I’m very, very sensitive to what their feelings are, and I understand some of it,’’ Wilpon said of the fans’ angst, but added, “I think that we have to be guided by our baseball people, and our baseball people evaluated, for example, some of our pitchers as good or better than what was on the market.

“Our baseball people evaluated other positions and we went by what they did. Jeff (Wilpon) followed them. Jeff and I don’t pick the baseball players. So that’s what they wanted to do.’’

In addition:

* If Jose Reyes does bat third, Manuel said it is possible Gary Matthews Jr., could lead off if he wins the center field job until Carlos Beltran returns. Again, if it isn’t broke don’t fix it, and Reyes is one of the game’s best leadoff hitters.

* Manuel also said prospect Jennry Mejia could compete for the eighth-inning set-up role, which indicates two things, 1) a concern about Kelvim Escobar, and 2) and doubts about Bobby Parnell.

* Jon Niese appears the leading candidate for the fifth starter spot. Kind of expected that all along. That Manuel would suggest that suggests good news on his hamstring.

* Rod Barajas was finally signed, which gives Josh Thole a chance to develop his game at Triple-A. Not good news for Omir Santos.

Manager Jerry Manuel, in talking to the press for the first time this spring, said he likes the idea of batting Jose Reyes third. I don’t understand why you’d want to take arguably the best leadoff hitter in the game and tinker with him.

REYES: Leave him alone.

Reyes, if he works on his game – bunting, hitting the ball on the ground, drawing more walks – could become one of the game’s all-time leadoff hitters. A modern day Rickey Henderson, perhaps.

The numbers suggest leaving him where he is. Over the past three seasons, Reyes is batting .293 leading off an inning and .295 with nobody on base. Conversely, he is batting .267 with RISP, .230 with RISP and two outs, and .205 with the bases loaded.

The offensive criticism of Reyes is he sometimes plays outside his game, and once he hits a home run or two starts swinging for the fences, which is away from his strength. Why put him into a slot in the order where he could become prone to bad habits?

The reasons I can fathom moving Reyes to third are two-fold, 1) the Mets don’t expect Carlos Beltran back soon, and 2) the Mets are more worried about Reyes’ running and speed than they are willing to admit.

For years, we’ve been told Reyes was the ignition to the offense, that as he goes so do the Mets. But, that was predicated on him batting leadoff. I have been critical of Reyes at times, but that’s when he takes plays off. However, the Mets’ inability to win since 2006 have nothing to do with him.

Another way to look at this are to examine the other options. There’s nobody comparable to Reyes as a leadoff hitter, but David Wright is capable of hitting third, followed by Jason Bay and Jeff Francoeur. It’s not Philly, but it is a good 3-4-5.

There’s plenty of issues with this team, tinkering with Reyes shouldn’t be one of them.

I’ve been looking at the Mets position players with this thought: Whose season might be the most important for them to reach contending status. That is, of course, under the assumption the rotation pitches well.

REYES: Mets need his spark.

My first thought was David Wright, but I’m inclined to give the benefit of doubt and believe last season was an aberration, that he’ll be closer to normal this year. Then I thought Daniel Murphy, as with Carlos Beltran out at the start that the Mets would need an infusion of power someplace. But, Murphy is what he is, and he’s not – at least in this stage of his career – a power hitter.

Then it became obvious: The keys to the Mets offense has always been Jose Reyes. When he’s running, stealing bases, legging out triples and beating out bunts, and going into the hole for the ball, that’s when the Mets are at their best.

Of all the position players, he’s the one who needs to be at his best if the Mets are to prove last year was an injury-riddled fluke. If Reyes is on his game, the Mets go from being a listless team to a dangerous one.

The reports so far have been positive on his rebab, but he’s not tested them under baseball conditions. When he does, we might gain a greater insight as to where this season will go.

Two good football games are on this afternoon: Jets vs. Colts and Vikings vs. Saints.

It’s fashionable to call the Jets a Cinderella, but when you have the No. 1 defense and No. 1 rushing game you’re no fluke. And, as long as they balance the offense enough to keep the Colts’ pass rushers off Mark Sanchez, they should be in decent shape. I’d want to see Sanchez throw more on first down to stay out of third-and-long.

The key, as it was in beating San Diego, is to play virtually error free and hold onto the ball to keep Peyton Manning off the field. But, Manning is so good, and he can score so quickly, that time-of-possession doesn’t always work against him.

As they did against the Chargers, the Jets need to keep this as low scoring a game as possible. The other game, however, I expect to be more wide open with both teams in the high 20s if not the 30s.

I wouldn’t be too quick to downplay Week 15 in this one either. The Colts are miffed at losing, but also teed off at the Jets’ yapping later about wanting “credit” for the win. They were given a gift, they should have kept quiet about it and moved on.